Catipilla designs high-quality, contemporary cat climbing frames for use both inside and outside the home. Our modular range makes great use of vertical wall space and appeals to a cat’s natural climbing instincts.

Catipilla – Knocking Home Security on the Head by Andy Sutton

As with all products entering the market, there are pros and cons to weight up before decisions can be made. Will it work? What’s the cost? Will cats like it? At Catipilla, we welcome each and every bit of feedback as it helps us build better products for our customers. Naturally, I’m delighted at the raft of positive feedback that I receive from cat people across the world, but the ones that really grab my attention are those that highlight possible issues or concerns.

Interestingly, the most common concern that I hear regarding Catipilla is the potential impact on home security but, in reality, I view this as one of the most important strengths of our product.

Catipilla allows cats to enter homes through opened windows, but I would never advocate that any window is continually left open in your home – that’s just inviting trouble. Your access window should only be open when it is safe to do so. During hot summer months you may be comfortable leaving the window open during the day but, at night or in the winter, you’ll probably want to seal your home from the elements and potential intruders.

Cats have an innate skill at getting what they want and your cat will find a way to tell you when they want to come and go. We want to help them too, so we designed the Catipilla High Plate module as a place for cats to sit on when they want to be let in – our own experience is that cats and owners learn the ropes very quickly.

At a product level, Catipilla also has a built-in security feature. The Tread Plates are designed to accommodate the weight of a domestic cat but should anything heavier set foot on the Tread Plate surface, it will slide to the bottom of the pillar . A simple but effective solution.

It’s probably worth contrasting Catipilla’s approach to security with that of a cat flap. Firstly, a cat flap is a permanently installed security weak spot – once it’s there, it’s always there. Not only does cutting a hole seriously compromise a doors physical integrity, but the perspex cat flap and surrounding plastic are easy pickings for any intruder. Taking a sledge hammer to the flap is a rather blunt approach whilst using a cat flap as a ‘fishing hole’ is another common tactic, using rods to reach keys, bags and valuables without ever entering the home. Larger sized cat flaps have even been known to provide direct access to small-framed individuals! You can forget the improved security afforded by magnetic collars and microchip activated flaps – quite simply these are irrelevant.

So my message is clear. Using Catipilla allows you to maintain the full integrity of your home security rather than compromising it. I know which I’d prefer.